1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of e-commerce systems and more particularly to the field of inventory management in an e-commerce system.
2. Description of the Related Art
E-commerce systems have evolved to provide virtual storefronts whose operational capabilities far exceed those of the traditional, brick and mortar store. Whereas in the brick and mortar store, each of the sales, marketing, order fulfillment, inventory, and customer service functions remain the separate responsibilities of corresponding business roles, in a well-defined e-commerce system, each of the sales, marketing, order fulfillment, inventory and customer service can be integrated in a single computing system in a highly automated fashion. Consequently, a more optimal business operation can result in which data flows between different functional subsystems seamlessly to facilitate the daily conduct of business managed by the e-commerce system.
In the prototypical e-commerce system, an on-line catalog of available goods and/or services for sale can be established along with associated pricing. Customers can be provided with a store front user interface through which customers can browse the on-line catalog. When a customer desires to purchase a product or service, the customer can so indicate causing the addition of the selected product or service to an on-line shopping cart, though it is also known to bypass the shopping cart model in favor of direct purchase model.
Inventory management supports order capture, payment and catalog management in an e-commerce system. Inventory management refers to the accounting and management of product inventory on-hand and available for allocation to a customer. As such, inventory management can be a critical aspect of order capture in that inventory must be available for shipment to customers. Likewise, inventory management can be a critical aspect of payment processing as payment can be processed for a purchase only when inventory is allocated to a customer.
In many e-commerce systems, each of the order entry, catalog navigation and payment processing sub-systems are preferred to be separate in nature. In some systems, each different sub-system can be developed separately by different developers in different firms. Furthermore, each separate sub-system can execute independently of the other. In consequence, maintaining access to a common inventory management system can require a high degree of coordination among the sub-systems of the e-commerce system. Where the coordination falls short, incompatibilities can arise between the different sub-systems and the inventory management system.
Inventory management systems, in of themselves, vary in functionality and strategy. For instance, in an “available to promise” (ATP) based inventory system, inventory reporting can include not only inventory on hand, but also inventory expected to be on hand. In this regard, inventory on hand can be classified as allocated or non-allocated, whereas anticipated inventory which has been allocated can be classified as backordered. By comparison, in a non-ATP based inventory system, only inventory on hand can be reported to coupled components of an e-commerce system so as to guarantee inventory for orders on a first come, first served basis.
Inventory management systems fare well in a unified and centrally controlled environment where inventory is managed from a central location that can be accessed by requesting sub-systems throughout the enterprise. Modern e-commerce systems, however, do not always provide for a centrally controlled environment, nor do modern e-commerce systems provide for an “always on, always connected” environment. Rather, in certain circumstances, portions of the enterprise can operate in a disconnected, remote mode in the absence of real-time access to a central repository of inventory information.
In fact, in the more prevalent circumstance, different portions of the enterprise can incorporate different inventory management systems that, in the absence of a high degree of integration, can act in a de facto disconnected mode. Specifically, some e-commerce environments stitch together disparate inventory management systems for different sales channels, different sales regions, and different stores. In the absence of a unified view of inventory, important e-commerce features such as ordering in one store and allocating inventory from another store cannot be supported.